The Fox and the Hound
by BloodyDreamscape
Summary: Sesshoumaru spares a wandering kitsune girl after she accidentally trespasses. Will the young fox make him regret his decision or will she show him what made him take mercy on her? Rated M for violence and language.
1. Prologue

_**Author note**_

_**This is my new story for Inuyasha. It takes place two and a half years after the Shikon Jewel was wished out of existence, and the main characters are my own original character, Mikoto, and Sesshoumaru, Youkai Lord of the West.**_

The Fox and the Hound: Prologue

Sesshoumaru sat in his study examining a scroll. It had been two and a half year since that shrine maiden, Kagome disappeared into the Bone Eater's Well. The taiyoukai raised his head slightly.

A demonic aura had entered the forest around his palace.

_A demon has come into my lands. I will not tolerate this._

The Lord of the West stood up and set down the scroll.

"Jaken, come." Sesshoumaru heard the pattering of his vassal's feet in the hallway outside the study.

"Y-Yes master? Do you need anything?" Jaken's voice wavered a bit as he opened the door and stepped in.

"Prepare Ah-Un. I sensed a trespasser." Sesshoumaru's voice was calm as he ordered the toad-like demon.

"Yes, master." Jaken scrambled out of the room, scampered out to the stables, and prepared the two headed dragon.

Somewhere in the forest, a girl was running.


	2. IMPORTANT MESSAGE

_**IMPORTANT MESSAGE**_

_**I HAVE BROKEN FOUR OF MY FINGERS IN AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING A TELEVISION AND A FLIGHT OF STAIRS, AS WELL AS MOVING INTO A NEW HOUSE. I HAVE BROKEN THE MIDDLE THREE FINGERS IN MY RIGHT HAND AND MY SMALL FINGER ON MY LEFT.**_

_**THIS IS THE REASON I HAVE NOT UPDATED IN AWHILE, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME. I AM CURRENTLY TYPING WITH SPEECH RECOGNITION. SO i WILL TAKE LONGER TO WRITE CHAPTERS.**_


	3. Fox Hunting

_**Author Note**_

_**My apologies for taking longer than usual to post new chapters. I understand that I have only been idle for a few days, but I have a strong sense of agenda. I have injured my hand and this makes it difficult to type anything.  
Enjoy the first chapter. In this story, bold means a projection or illusion is the one perceiving what is going on. They can also interact. Bold and Italics within the story mean a Youkai's "Beast" is speaking inside the mind of said Youkai.**_

Chapter One: Fox Hunting

Mikoto's POV

I ran through the woods, panting slightly. _I've been running for days, when is this demon going to give up? _I considered using one of my tricks to throw the demon off of my tracks, but I knew it wouldn't work. _Serves me right for trying to steal from an exiled wolf demon. Granted, I don't exactly have any better way of getting food, without being able to hunt and all, but I hate having to buy food from human villages. Such is life._

I jumped over a fallen tree, landing on both feet. I got back to sprinting as fast as I could, though my energy was waning. I knew I couldn't run for much longer. I would have to face the demon that was chasing me, but I couldn't take the risk of getting hurt. I stopped in front of a rather tall tree. _Perfect._ I grabbed a silver leaf out of my small pouch and threw it onto the ground before jumping up as high as I could and climbing the tree. I looked down at the leaf and poured a bit of my youki into it. The leaf sprang up into a perfect copy of me. I projected my senses into the illusion and waited.

**I pretended to trip on a branch, knowing the ookami wouldn't believe much else. I heard the wolf coming through the forest to me, and crawled to a nearby tree. I cowered against it as the wolf came into view, his short hair mussed up and full of twigs from running through the forest. He ran over to me and grabbed my long hair, pulling me up by it. I grabbed the hand, wincing in fake pain. The wolf threw me into the tree behind me. I slumped against the tree a bit, still cowering.**

"**You gave good chase, but I finally caught you. Now, where is my money, wench?" The wolf's voice was gruff and he was definitely winded.**

"**I don't have your money, I didn't steal anything!" I sounded helpless, a technique I had perfected after three years.**

"**I have heard about a young kitsune who steals to buy human food. She supposedly has crimson hair, twin crimson tails, as well as black fox ears and silver eyes. There is no way that it can be a coincidence that you fit the description. I should get a good ransom for turning you in to the humans, even if I am a Youkai myself." The wolf laughed, a strange sound with the mixed in howls and yips.**

"**I have no reason to buy human food! I'm a demon, it's not like I can't hunt. Besides, human food is the most revolting thing I can think of, aside from you." I had gotten a bit angry that my cover had been blown, and my silver tongue started turning to lead.**

**The wolf roared and grabbed my hair again, this time grabbing my throat as well. "You dare insult me? Wench, you will die! I shall make sure your death is slow and pain-…" The wolf's sentence was interrupted by a sharp swishing sound and his head fell off. His hand let go of my hair, but the grip on my throat still remained. I looked over the stump of the wolf's bleeding neck.**

**A pale skinned Youkai with long silver hair stood just a meter away. His eyes were a cold amber colour, without expression. He had a cerulean crescent moon on his brow and a pair of horizontal magenta stripes on each cheek, and magenta stripes on each eyelid. He had a Mokomoko around his right shoulder, and armour around his chest and left shoulder. He wore a white haori with belled sleeves and a red sakura print, as well as white hakama pants and flat shoes. The Youkai's right hand held a yellow-green youki whip which was floating around slightly in the small clearing. I pushed the wolf's corpse off of me, gently pulling the claws off of my neck. I couldn't afford to have this projection badly damaged, especially with the new Youkai who was obviously quite powerful.**

"**Why are you in my lands? The Kitsune mainly live in the South, which means that you are trespassing." The Youkai remained calm, as though he had just woken up and hadn't quite gotten out of his dreams. I could tell from his words that he was a lord. **_**Crap, I must have crossed the border at some point.**_

"**I am a mere traveller; I was just passing through, my Lord." I kept my voice even, hearing of the cruelty of some demon lords.**

"**Mere travellers are not often accused of stealing, especially not from people such as this wolf. This leads me to doubt that you were simply passing through." The Youkai ever so slightly raised his whip.**

"**I would be a fool to steal from anyone, even more so to be caught." **_**Foolish, indeed. I got caught by both the wolf and now this Youkai.**_

"**Either way, you are still trespassing, which means I must kill you." The Youkai snapped his whip towards me, growling slightly when I dodged it.**

"**You have to catch me first." I laughed through the apparition as I made it jump and dodge the whip attacks. I could smell the Youkai's frustration as he pulled back the whip, retracting it back into his claws. I caught a glimpse of a smirk before I hid behind a tree on the opposite side of the clearing from where my real body was in the tree. **_**Damn, he knows I've got a projection. He still has to find my body, though.**_

A clawed hand grabbed my throat, surprising me to the point of my mind returning to my body and my projection disappearing. My eyes snapped open to see a pair of flashing gold eyes a few centimetres away from them. I instinctively grabbed the wrist of the hand that held me to the tree, earning a growl from the Youkai.

"I caught you." The Youkai threw me down to the ground, a pile of leaves kicking up from the resulting shockwave. I landed straight on my head, leaving me dizzy and making my vision blur. I blinked several times, hardly noticing the feet that were now on opposite sides of my torso and the sword at my throat. I opened my eyes and stared straight up at the Youkai, who stood above me.

"If you're going to kill me, then kill me. Otherwise I would like to get up now." I managed to get my voice to work after a few seconds.

"You are not afraid of death." The words were a statement, rather than a question.

"I have had much worse happen to me. Death will be welcome." My words were the truth. I welcomed death, although I was not willing to do the deed myself, to others or myself.

"Then it will not be a punishment." The Youkai moved so that both legs were on one side of me, and then turned away. "I will show you the way to my home. From there, you shall rest and then leave." He began walking in the direction that he came from without waiting for me to follow. I ran up behind him and began walking a few meters back. We got to another clearing, and I was surprised to see a two-headed dragon lying down in the middle of it.

"You have a dragon? Where did you get a dragon?" I knew that dragons were fairly rare; especially two headed ones, despite my being rather uneducated.

"It is none of your concern. You will ride Ah-Un along with me, as I doubt that you can fly." He kept his voice calm, but I knew he was slightly irritated.

"Who said I can't fly? Lots of Kitsune can fly, especially those of us powerful enough to have more than one tail." I was slightly offended, although I had no idea why.

"If you could fly, then you would have easily escaped that wolf." I could sense him getting even more irritated.

"I _can _fly, I choose not to because I… didn't get to train beyond illusions… my parents died before they could teach me. I don't know how to fly very well." I hung my head so that my bangs were covering most of my face. I felt my ears twitch a few times. I looked up to see the Youkai already flying away on a cloud of youki. I scrambled onto the dragon and took off, following the silver haired demon. I realized I never learned his name, so I spoke up to ask.

"Um… you never told me your name. My name is Mikoto." I moved the dragon closer to him, hoping to figure out exactly who I was dealing with. I could tell that this was an extremely powerful Youkai, but nothing else. I hoped that he didn't hear what I had said about my training, but I knew he did.

"I am Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, son of the Great Inu General." Was that a hint of pride in his voice?

"Well, if we are doing proper introductions, then my name is Usohaki Mikoto, daughter of the Great Trickster, Usohaki Shoko. Most who get to know me call me Miki." I cringed a bit at hearing my father's name. _It's been three hundred years, and it still bothers me._

"I have heard of him, but I did not know he had a daughter. I know that he was killed three centuries ago, by a group of Taijiya. How pitiful." The last sentence was almost a whisper, but I could still hear it.

Anger flared in my chest. "He died protecting my mother and me, he had no choice. You are disrespecting my father with your words."

He stopped and turned his head slightly towards me. "If he could not defend himself, then he deserved to die. Those who cannot protect themselves from mere humans are not worth respecting. I cannot disrespect someone who does not deserve respect."

I growled lightly in my chest. "My father was peaceful. He hated violence, so he used his intelligence to protect us. Unfortunately, one of the Taijiya was also a miko, who purified him. He had no way to survive." I could tell I was losing the argument, but for some reason my mouth wouldn't stop. Sesshoumaru was right. "I know my father should have done all in his power to help, but he was honourable. He could have killed all of those Taijiya in one strike, but he didn't, to avoid violence. Besides, he actually liked humans, which you shouldn't complain about because I know your father did as well, to the point of siring a child with one." I covered my mouth, hoping that I didn't offend the Daiyoukai. _Low blow, Miki; let's just hope he doesn't do something horrible to us._

To my surprise, the Youkai turned back with an "Hn" and kept flying. _At least he didn't use that whip on us, right Miki? _I urged the dragon forward, staying further away from the Youkai. We approached a large clearing, and I immediately sensed a barrier hiding an immense Youki aura. I decided to show this Youkai that I was an intelligent Youkai, not some small fry like he seemed to think.

"An illusion barrier? You must have either a Miko or a very powerful kitsune around here. From what I can tell, it's a kitsune, you don't seem to like humans and there haven't been any Youkai with Miko powers for over two thousand years. I can also sense the difference between each type of Youkai." I reached out and touched the barrier, knowing that it would still work even after I passed through it if I was not welcome.

The Youkai's eyes narrowed slightly. "You are observant, kitsune. Even my own half-brother could not sense it. Granted, that half breed never was intelligent."

"I have advanced senses, even for a kitsune. If you would please lead the way." I tried to be polite as possible, but I hated anything against half demons, what with my old friend being one. He passed through the barrier, with me tagging along.

I widened my eyes at the sight that awaited me. A large house sat atop a hill of flowers, with many smaller houses and buildings surrounding it. I recognized a shrine and what looked like a dojo, but nothing much else. There were a few trees here and there, and several gardens.

_Wow, what a beautiful place. I've never seen anything like it._

_**Quite so. It is grander than our old home.**_

_He did say that he was the Lord of the West, which means he is of higher class than our father. Sesshoumaru rules the entire Western Lands, while our father only ruled the Kitsune lands, which were only about half of the South._

_**This is true. I suggest you act respectable. We would not want someone like Lord Sesshoumaru to become our enemy. We already have far too many.**_

_I know, but the man pisses me off. He disrespected father and Hanyou._

_**Incorrect. He did not disrespect the Hanyou race, only his half-brother.**_

_Damn, I suppose you're right. Either way, He still irritates me._

"Kitsune," Sesshoumaru's voice startled me to the point of almost falling off of the dragon.

"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?" I made my voice sweet, but not too sweet.

"We have arrived."

I resisted the urge to say something along the lines of "I can see that", and instead went with respectful "Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Lord Sesshoumaru."

We reached the ground and I jumped off of the dragon, slowing my fall slightly. A Kappa holding a staff approached us.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! I see we have a guest."

"Show her to her room. She will be staying in the common guests' rooms for the night." The Daiyoukai began walking away.

"B-but Lord Sesshoumaru, there are no more of those rooms, or any other. The only available rooms are the soldiers' barracks and Rin's old room."

The Daiyoukai turned his head back slightly. "Then put her in the soldiers' barracks."

"Y-yes Lord Sesshoumaru; it will be done."

The Kappa leaded me to the building I recognized as barracks, grumbling the entire time.

"Don't you start thinking that you are an honoured guest here, brat. Lord Sesshoumaru is paying a very serious kindness to you by even allowing you into the barracks to stay." The Kappa's voice scraped into my ears with its force, the creature obviously did not like me. He led me into an empty room within the small building, the only thing in it being empty weapon stands.

"Thank you for showing me the way, mister…" I trailed off, indicating that I had yet to learn his name.

"Jaken, my name is Jaken, brat. Not that you need to remember it, you will only be here for the night."

"Then thank you, Sir Jaken. I am sure that this room is better than I deserve." I knew that I was right as soon as I spoke the words, since I was still a kit I lived as a thief, roaming from place to place and usually sleeping in abandoned huts or trees.

The Kappa, Jaken, left with a huff. I heard him grumbling more about "treacherous kitsune" as he left.

"So you're the new girl, eh?" a thin, reedy voice startled me as I was untying my leaf pouch from my waist. Whoever it was seemed slightly unhappy.

I turned around to face the owner of the voice, some sort of bird Youkai. He was leaning against the door frame in the leather that goes underneath armour. "No, I'm just staying here for the night. Lord Sesshoumaru was kind enough to let me stay here after I told him I wasn't trying to assassinate him or trespass in his lands."

"Well, that's good. At least we know that you won't end up the next Lord of the West, or Lady, as it were."

"What do you mean?" I didn't know anything about the Cardinal Lords and Ladies, so I was confused. _I _would be the _Cardinal Lady of the West _if I killed him?!

"Whoever kills one of the Cardinal Lords or Ladies takes their place. How did you not know that?" I could hear the sheer amount of confusion in his voice, mixed with a bit of disgust.

"Hey, I've been homeless my entire life. You should be lucky I even know what a Cardinal Lord _is._" My voice went down half an octave, which only happens when I get mad.

"Well, sorry for being used to intelligent people. How the hell was I supposed to know you're a vagrant?" The Youkai stepped over to me and crossed his arms over his chest. I could immediately smell exactly what type of bird he was then.

"Well, I'm fairly certain that a vulture such as you would have had dealt with imbeciles before, considering most of your kind are." I turned fully towards him, my voice calm and collected but I still let some of my slight anger show in my eyes. The vulture narrowed his eyes, the already beady orbs becoming even smaller.

"Hold your tongue, kitsune. I could tear you to shreds right here." The vulture snapped, his talons scraping against each other.

"I would not suggest it, vulture. I had a witch place a spell upon my body to make it explode after I die." The lie escaped my lips with ease, reminding me of how much my demeanour had changed in the three hundred years since the incident. I admitted to myself that I was ashamed, but I knew it was necessary in order to survive.

"We shall see." His tone darkened and he raised his talons above his head, and then implanted them into my abdomen.

I yelped at the pain and feeling of the hooked things pulling back out to strike again. I took defensive action, raising my head and letting out a piercing cry that would deafen almost anyone within a hundred yards of me.

_**Author note**_

_**First chapter. This one is rather long for me but I had to get everything into that chapter or else the story wouldn't flow right. My hands are healing fairly well, but it still hurts very much. My microphone broke on my laptop so I cannot use speech recognition. I am currently having my niece type everything out for me, so the updates should be about once a week when she visits to check on me.**_

_**I understand that Original Characters are not well liked, but the existing characters in the original story do not have the personality, past, and powers together to form the proper bond I want. There is also the fact that in later chapters, the illusions of the kitsune will definitely be needed.**_


	4. Updating Update

_**Author Note**_

_**I am sorry for not updating in a while. My computer somehow got a virus, from where I know not because on this computer the only thing I do is write my stories and then post them on here. The entire system needed to be wiped and so I ended up having to completely reconfigure the entire thing and I somehow lost all of my documents. My niece is now out of school until college, in a year, and therefore will be visiting me more often to help type my stories. My small finger on the left hand is almost completely healed, but the rest are not faring so well.**_

_**The story of my injury is that I am, or was, moving into my new apartment, the first time not having anyone else living with me. My niece was helping me carry my television up the stairs, with her at the top of the staircase and me at about the middle. Somehow, her grip failed and the television, which weighs about 80 pounds, fell and pushed me down the stairs backwards, crushing my fingers underneath in the process. My doctor said I was lucky to not be further injured.**_

_**I will update as soon as physically possible.**_


	5. Kitsune Duex Fois (Kitsune Times Two)

_**Author Note**_

_**My apologies for not updating in a while. I have been hopped up on painkillers and the like, and my progress on both of my new chapters got deleted due to having to wipe my computer because of a virus that should not have been able to infect my computer considering I almost never use this one. I have written this chapter as filler, but it does decide exactly how the characters end up interacting with each other the way they do.**_

Chapter Three: Kitsune Deux Fois

Third Person POV

A loud shriek rang out in the open air, heard for several miles around. Several creatures hid in their burrows, knowing that the scream meant something was being attacked. In a shiro in the Western Lands, a Daiyoukai cringed from the painfully loud screech. A flash of white and red could be seen as the Lord of the West streaked through the courtyard and into the barracks, following the sound of the vixen's cry. When he came to the room in which it originated, a strange sight met his eyes.

Mikoto was standing, or rather leaning against the wall, with a large hole in her abdomen. His captain was kneeling in front of her holding his bleeding ears, with blood the same color as the kitsune's on one set of talons. The walls were cracked and the rather fresh paint was peeling off. Mikoto looked up at him, and he could see that her eyes had gone from their normal color of roman silver to a striking crimson, the subtle red and black markings along her face becoming more prominent and jagged. She took a few steps away from him before collapsing on the floor.

Sesshoumaru walked over to the unconscious kitsune, looking over her wounds absently. He turned onto his vulture captain and understood exactly what had happened. The hot-headed vulture Youkai had lost his temper over what was most likely nothing, resulting in him attacking the kitsune and her retaliating. The only thing Sesshoumaru could not understand was why the kitsune had not killed him. Sesshoumaru nonchalantly brought forth his Youki whip and decapitated the vulture. He then looked at the girl again, considering whether or not she would need much time to heal. Deciding that he should at least bring her to a healer, Sesshoumaru picked up the girl and put him over his shoulder, minding his armor and the hole in her stomach that could easily be seen through. He quickly made his way to the healing house and deposited her there. He ordered his retainer to make sure that the mess in the barracks would be taken care of, then proceeded to go back to his study.

Mikoto's POV

I woke up to a gentle nudging on my shoulder and a throbbing pain in my stomach. Groaning, I tried to sit up, but gentle hands pushed me back down onto the futon I was laying on.

"Don't try to sit up, you've got some nasty wounds," a gentle, yet deep voice scolded. The voice sounded familiar, but I could not quite place it.

"ChiChi-Ue?" I inquired, smelling the aroma of fox fur on the man above me.

"I haven't had any kid, much less one who is almost as old as I," the Kitsune above me laughed. My eyes snapped open to reveal a man with striking green eyes and daisy colored hair. I laughed as well, trying to lighten some of the grief I felt at hearing myself call for my long dead father.

"Sorry, both Kitsune, you know how it is." I gently brushed his hands off of me, and flicked my tails a bit.

"My name is Fukushin, I already know yours. When Sesshoumaru-sama came in carrying you, he explained much of what had happened. The Youkai who attacked you is dead, which is unfortunate because the vulture was the captain of what we have that passes for an army." The kitsune shifted so that he could sit on the futon next to me cross legged, his single tail swaying side to side slowly. I tried shifting my weight to give him more room, but he held me in place with a spell when I winced.

"I'm guessing Sesshoumaru killed him, then? I suppose that makes sense, what with his name meaning the Killing Perfection. It's funny, considering my viewpoint on such things." I chuckled a bit, pondering the Daiyoukai who had "rescued" me twice in one day.

"Your viewpoint? What does that mean?" Fukushin tilted his head slightly, his tail pulling itself around his arm and sliding into place.

I blanched slightly. _Did I say that out loud? _I grinned back at the curious fox slightly. "I have this aversion to killing anything with any semblance of being sentient, but don't mistake that for an aversion to violence. If I get mad enough, expect removal of limbs and possibly a few non-vital organs."

"I see, so you're one of those Youkai who flies into rages on occasion?" Fukushin said, with a well hidden bit of recognition in his tone. His tail flicked a bit as he said the last two words.

I kept my eyes on him, gauging his reaction. "Yes, but only on incredibly rare occasion. Only twice has it happened before," I tried sitting up again, but the spell held me in place. "Perhaps I might be allowed to sit up now? My position is rather uncomfortable." I flicked my ears as emphasis, attempting to hide the subject change I had initiated.

"Of course, but be careful not to further injure yourself. Sesshoumaru-sama would be upset that I did not do my job in making sure those in his house were not well cared for." Fukushin stood up off of the bed and waved his hand once, the spell coming undone in an instant. I carefully sat up, placing a hand over my wounded abdomen as a stab of pain went through it. I stretched out my legs and ran my fingers carefully over the bandages.

"How extensive are my wounds, exactly? Normally I would have healed by now if it was a simple gash, and I usually don't feel much pain even when it is a heavy injury."

"The vulture stuck his hand completely through your abdomen twice, to the point where I could see through a large hole in your stomach about the size of a small cannonball. As for the pain, he had this strange ability to cause more than usual with his talons." Fukushin walked over to the pile of bandages sitting on a nearby table and grabbed a few, putting them in a bowl as well as a few other items and then sitting by me again. "Do you mind? It has been several hours since I put on your bandages and I need to replace them."

I nodded, not caring about being bare to the male considering he was the healer and only doing his job, as well as the fact that he had seen me earlier as he was first bandaging me. He removed my yukata and carefully sliced the bandages on my abdomen before inspecting my wounds.

"You have already begun to heal, it would seem as though you have rather strong blood in you." He said approvingly before cleaning the large hole in my stomach and bandaging it.

"I come from a line of very powerful kitsune. I have several natural abilities that come with it, as well as other latent ones that I am attempting to train with." I shifted slightly so that he could secure the bandages before he sat up and used fox fire to burn the old bandages. I felt a powerful aura enveloping the room and stiffened.

_Why did I not smell him coming?_

_**The scent of our blood is overpowering it. You should not be so stupid as to not take that into account.**_

_Well, excuse me for being weak and confused from blood loss. You are a part of me, so why are you berating me._

_**I was merely pointing out something obvious. Who is it berating whom, now?**_

_Get back in your cage!_

I ignored the laughter of my beast as the door opened to reveal Lord Sesshoumaru, wearing the same outfit as before but without his armor.

"Kitsune onna, this Sesshoumaru wishes to speak with you."


End file.
